Posted on 10/18/2025 7:12:12 AM PDT by MinorityRepublican
Stephen A. Smith on Thursday said he thinks Secretary of State Marco Rubio would best Vice President Vance if the two face off in the 2028 presidential election’s Republican primary.
“I got to be honest with you, if this Israel-Hamas deal comes out to be more positive than anything else, I don’t think anybody be able to compete with Marco Rubio who Trump called ‘maybe the greatest Secretary of State in American history,’” Smith said during a Thursday episode of his “Straight Shooter” podcast on SiriusXM.
“Marco Rubio gets things done. He’s a former senator, now secretary of State and national security adviser. He is no joke. I put him above Vice President Vance, I can tell you that much,” the sports commentator added.
Smith has been increasingly weighing in on political races nationwide and highlighted Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and Maryland Gov. Wes Moore as his two favorite potential Democratic nominees for 2028. On Wednesday, he co-hosted a live NewsNation town hall at the Kennedy Center alongside Chris Cuomo and Bill O’Reilly.
He’s also previously floated the idea of launching his own presidential bid.
“I hope somebody from the Democratic Party steps up. I hope I light a fire under them and get a more qualified individual in this mix, so people can stop asking me this stuff and I can enjoy my life,” Smith told Fox News’s Sean Hannity in April.
“But if it continues to get worse, all hands on deck, all of us should consider running, for crying out loud, rather than dealing with this nonsense” he added.
(Excerpt) Read more at thehill.com ...
I generally like Rubio, but Jefferson was Secretary of State.
Consider the source: They do not want JDV.
Marco Rubio seems to be doing a very good job as Sec State, however, I don’t see the Repub party going backwards, and Marco represents the past, vs. JD who represents the future. Not saying JD is a lock, but I don’t think it will be someone from the “former” Repub party. Marco was an up and comer, but tangled with Trump in 2016...Trump’s graciousness and eye for talent picked him for Sec State, but I think that’s the end. JD is young and represents the future. And I say this as a Floridian who has had Marco has a senator for years.
Check
There are a bunch of good potential candidates in the Trump administration.
Gabbard, Vance, Rubio would be the top contenders.
What’s key is who could run the best campaign.
Vance Rubio 28
The real question is who has the real ambition to be president?
And as far as Smith goes, he’s just pointing out the obvious, likely with the idea of fomenting division.
Generally, the Vice President has the priority.
Witness Kamala Harris.
I’d be happy to see Rubio on a Vance/Rubio ticket.
Vance was Trump’s choice for replacement.
Rubio’s time in the White House hopefully will start in 2037.
Yes, Rubio gets things done. Publicly though, he’s a limp fish. The political arena is public, VERY public. It’s the most important both externally and internally.
Confidence is key, and Rubio couldn’t instill it if he wanted to.
I'm fine with Tulsi, Vance or Rubio. But only one of them can be Trump's successor.
“The real question is who has the real ambition to be president?”
In DC that’s a test to see if you can move your arm.
Well it’s like this, Vance would be the stronger in the primary but Rubio would be stronger in the general.
JD Vance still has the edge in raw feral energy, and his willingness to engage his critics at a visceral level.
Either one of these two “America First” spokesmen is still a few cuts above just about anyone the Democrat Socialists can offer up on a national scale. There may still be those who identify as “Democrat” who are also actual patriots, but they have been shunted to the side and reduced to a mere murmur, and thus of little consequence for at least the next few cycles of Presidential politics.
DeSantis-Vance. Or vice versa.
Who listens to this screaming idiot? I blame O’Reilly. The guy sucks at sports and now he’s sucking at politics. All he does is yell and suck.
His current closeness to Trump seems more driven by ambition than conviction, and frankly I think Trump picked him as SOS because he would present some traditional foreign policy arguments while not being a backstabbing snake like Bolton or Pompeo.
Clown with Talking Points.....Dem’s are afraid of Vance.
‘President Obama, we drafted an amnesty bill for your signature.’ Marco Rubio
As a member of the “Gang of Eight” in the Senate at the time, Rubio helped write a comprehensive immigration reform bill that included a pathway to citizenship. However, the bill stalled in the House, and Rubio faced significant backlash from conservative voters.
This Tea Party beneficiary quickly inhaled swamp gases.
Hard no on Rubio.
The Republicans have DeSantis, Rubio, and Vance.
The Democrats have Newsom, AOC, and...and...somebody else.
The Democrats could probably put forward a viable candidate, but they wouldn’t vote for him, because they don’t like good candidates.
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